Laura Griffin Designs

China Trip: Day 6 – Yuan Tou Zhu Gardens

On Day 6, we woke up in the city of Wuxi, ready for another day of adventure.

Wuxi has been called the “pearl of Lake Taihu”. The beauty of Lake Taihu (the 3rd largest lake in China) has been immortalized by poets & painters for centuries. The best place to view its natural wonder is from the gardens of the Yuan Tou Zhu peninsula. “Yuan Tou Zhu” literally means “the Head of the Dragon-Turtle,” inspired the way the peninsula dramatically juts out into the lake. The symbolic figure of the dragon turtle (pictured below) sits in the middle of the gardens surrounded by an iron gate. If you toss a coin on his back & it stays, it is considered quite good luck. I gave it my best shot…but had no luck.

Although it has been a well known scenic spot for centuries, the area was first made into a garden in the late 19th century, and the narrow bridges and pavilions seen today date from this period.

(Click on “more” for another 13 pictures & additional journaling) (more…)

China Trip: Day 5 – Wuxi Hotel

That night we traveled to Wuxi & stayed at a fabulous hotel. (I believe it is the Hubin Hotel but will have to consult my travel companions to confirm.)

I loved the painted mural in the lobby. The blue was so incredibly vivid!

The modern ceiling fixtures in the lobby were interesting as well… (more…)

China Trip: Day 5 – The Silk Factory

After leaving the Panmen Scenic Area, we visited a nearby government-owned silk factory. The silk in Suzhou is considered the best in China and some say, the best in the world. I vaguely remember our tour guide explaining that the plants silkworms favor in the region contain a higher amount of nutrients making their silk finer than in other regions.

When we entered the doors, we were ushered over to a small podium where an employee showed us the difference between pure silk (made in the factory) & silk blends (often found in the street markets). Believe it or not, the easiest way to tell pure from blended silk is to burn it. Now I wouldn’t go lighting up your favorite silk scarf or anything, but it was interesting to see. When pure silk burns, it has white smoke while a silk blend emits black smoke.

After the burn test, we were taken to see the actual process where cocoons are transformed into silk thread.

The process begins when cocoons are hand-picked by workers & placed in an oven. The heat of the oven is enough to kill the silkworm inside but not damage the silk in the cocoon. To make a strand of silk thread that will later be weaved into silk fabric, it is necessary to use the individual strands of eight cocoons. Amazingly enough, each cocoon is actually a continuous strand that is around 3600 feet long!

The cocoons are first soaked in water so that the individual silk strands will come loose. A worker will then locate the ends of the 8 strands and attach them to a spinning machine. The spinning machine automatically unravels the eight cocoons, simultaneously creating a single strand of silk from them. As the wheels above spin, the cocoons bob up & down in the water. When the silk from the cocoon is completely unraveled, the remaining cocoon shell & worm are left floating & are either discarded or used for other purposes (they are actually eaten by some of the locals!) Once the final thread is made, it can be dyed various colors & woven into beautiful garments, scarves, etc.

Next, we were shown double cocoons. These cocoons actually contain two worms, are about twice the size, and are stretched & used for other purposes. One of the ways they are utilized is to create silk duvet comforters. One silk comforter can contain up to 10,000 stretched cocoons inside. Basically four workers will stand together, grab the edges of a flattened cocoon & stretch it out into a paper-thin rectangle shape. Surprisingly, the cocoon does not break. It looks a bit like those spiderwebs that you buy at Halloween time…but obviously much softer & a wee bit more expensive. After seeing how the silk comforters were made, we visited the factory store and picked up some goodies. I bought a silk scarf for my mom (Happy Belated Mother’s Day!) as well as a silk comforter for my bed.

China Trip: Day 5 – Suzhou & the Panmen Scenic Area

Early on day 5, we took a bus to the airport, bid farewell to our local Beijing tourguide, David, & headed to Shanghai. When we arrived, we were met by our new GAT tourguide, Tina. Our first stop was the beautiful Panmen Scenic Area in the ancient city of Suzhou.

The entryway to the Panmen Scenic Area is dotted with red lanterns beckoning you to enter the grounds.

Once inside, your eyes are immediately drawn to the towering Pagoda of Auspicious Light (great name, eh?)

This amazing pagoda was originally built 13 stories tall by Sun Quan, King of Wu, during the Three Kingdoms period in China (around 247 BC). Destroyed by fire several times, the pagoda was rebuilt between 1119 and 1125 to its current 144-foot tall, 7-story octagon structure. Amazingly enough there are no nails holding this pagoda together…its core is brick & its outer wood pieces are all interconnected!

Another interesting fact – in 1978, many cultural relics were found in a brick recess inside the third story, including more than one hundred twenty volumes of Buddhist scriptures and a pillar inscribed with Buddha’s name and scriptures. The pillar is covered with pearls and precious beads and combines the art of jade sculpture, gold and silver ware, wood carving, gold tracing and carved lacquerware. It is regarded as a rare treasure of extreme value. Click on more… (more…)

China Trip: Day 4 – Peking Duck Dinner

Beijing (formerly known as Peking) is very well known for its Peking Duck. On our last night in the city, we went to a restaurant where they presented us with an entire cooked duck, cut it in front of us & proceeded to put 3-4 plates full of duck on our table. We rolled the duck slices in thin crepes with a special dark sauce, and thin strips of celery & onions. Yum! Here’s an example of the table only half full awaiting more dishes, but it gives you an idea of what our meals were like.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel & crashed early for the evening. The next morning, we had to catch an early flight to Shanghai.

China Trip Observation – Fast Food

So normally when I travel to a foreign country, I am used to seeing a number of McDonalds, Burger Kings, or Starbucks.

So let me tell you my surprise when I saw this on every street corner….

Yup, KFC appears to be the most popular fast food in China! Who knew that it was the land of Colonel Sanders, eh? Truly strange.

China Trip: Day 4 – Beijing Roses

As we were traveling back to the hotel, I was really drawn into the beauty of the flora along the roadways. The medians of all of the major highways leading through Beijing are lined with roses. Thousands of bushes were bursting with color…red, pink, yellow, coral…almost as far as the eye could see. It seems bizarre for this beauty to be in the heart of a city of 13 million people! These are just a few pictures I was able to take from the tour bus, but they truly don’t do them justice.

China Trip: Day 4 – Climbing the Great Wall…

After visiting the jade factory, we made our way towards the Great Wall. We stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant that was exclusively built to host President Nixon during a visit in the 70s. Kinda surreal. They had a number of pictures of famous political figures on the restaurant walls. I had my first taste of garlic chives which ended up being one of my favorite dishes on the trip (they have a surprisingly sweet taste).

After the meal, we were dropped off at the base of the Badaling section of the Great Wall. It was time to burn a few calories.

A single soldier minded the front gate:

Now for a few fun facts:

• Badaling is the most visited section of the Wall, and is located approximately 50 miles northwest of Beijing.

• Constructed during the Ming dynasty around 1505, it was considered a critical point of defense.

• The Great Wall is 4,500 miles long — the distance between Miami and the North Pole.

• If you took all the bricks from the Ming portion of the Wall alone, they could circle the Earth at the equator in a wall five feet high and three feet thick.

• The Wall’s height averages from 15 to 30 feet high, and it’s width averages from 15-25 feet wide with about a 13-foot wide roadway on top. Large enough for five horses or 10 men standing side-by-side. I guess that’s why some say it is actually visible from space!

It has been carefully restored, and in 1957, Badaling was the first section of the Great Wall to open officially to tourists. I guess it is needless to say that the place is a hot spot & we were among a fairly large crowd of tourists.

When you climb the Badaling wall – you have two options: (more…)

China Trip: Day 4 – The Jade Factory

In the morning, we had a fabulous buffet breakfast, then boarded our bus to head towards the Great Wall of China. On our way, we stopped at a jade factory.

When we entered the doors, we were ushered into a small room & given a brief lecture on the two types of jade: hard jade (used primarily for jewelry) & soft jade (used for sculpting statues, puzzle balls, or even ships like the intricate one below).

We were able to view a couple of jade carvers earnestly at work making soft jade puzzle balls that have up to 8 independently rotating layers inside of them. Amazing that these are drilled out of a single piece of jade!

While there, we also learned about the different “grades” of jade. Surprisingly, the best quality is nearly white in color. It is very translucent & when you strike it, it sounds like crystal. The lesser quality tends to be darker green.

When we entered the jade factory store, a flock of store attendants pulled us over to their counter to try on some of the “Grade A” translucent bangles. The bracelets appeared quite small and I wasn’t sure if one would fit, but the clerk just pulled out a plastic bag, put it over my hand, and easily slipped it onto my wrist. Of course, the bangles were about $250 USD each…so I opted for a different treasure to take home with me. I’m actually more attracted to the greener jades, so I ended up getting a basic bezel pendant that has a fun hidden dragon on the back side. It may not be heirloom quality…but I like it!

China Trip: Day 3 – An Unbelievable Acrobat Show

And I do mean unbelievable!!! These folks top any gymnastics display that I’ve ever seen. Every time they did something that seemed impossible, they would top it with something even more dangerous. It’s amazing they don’t get injured more often!

The show lasted for at least an hour & was in a venue called “Acrobatics Macrocosm”. I think there were 7 or 8 different acts and I have almost 20 pics to share. Click on more to see them all! You won’t want to miss these.

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